First National Bank (FNB) Zambia, has partnered with two other organizations to offer COVID-19 Relief Support to national authorities. The three organisations jointly donated COVID-19 Test Kit items valued at approximately K900,000.
In a statement made available to the Zambian Business Times – ZBT by FNB Zambia Head of Strategic Marketing & Communications Clotilda Mulenga, FNB Zambia together with Hollard Zambia and Right-to-care Zambia made the donation to the Ministry of Health.
FNB Zambia CEO Bydon Longwe stated that “the collaborative effort is inspired by the South African Pandemic Intervention and Relief Effort (SPIRE) intervention and relief effort launched by FirstRand Limited, of which FNB Zambia is a subsidiary”.
“We hope and believe that this timely action will help the country assist national authorities and their partners in mitigating the impact of COVID-19 rapidly and at scale, especially at a time when we are beginning to see alarming spikes in the number of daily cases.”
The donation consists of items meant to assist technicians in processing lab results such as Nuclisens Easymag Lysis Buffer, Biohit Tips for Easymag, Nuclisens Easymag Ext Buffer 1, Easymag Disposables, Nuclisens Easymag Ext Buffer 2, Nuclisens Easymag Magnetic Silica, Nuclisens Easymag Ext Buffer 3, Qia-amp Viral RNA Mini Kit (Qiagen).
Speaking at the joint donation event, Hollard Zambia CEO, Paul Nkhoma said, “The success of our businesses is intertwined with the prosperity of our nation. It is therefore our duty, as active corporate members of society, to support and assist our communities where necessary to enable better futures. Therefore, we are pleased to have been able to present this testing apparatus as contribution to the proactive and decisive response to the pandemic.
Dr. Crispin Moyo, Managing Director, Right-to-Care Zambia added and said that “Right-to-Care Zambia (RTCZ) is dedicated to the health and wellness of the people of Zambia. In partnership with the Ministry of Health, RTCZ has been combatting the HIV epidemic in Northern, Luapula, and Muchinga provinces since 2016. We are pleased to offer our continued support to the Ministry of Health and call upon all Zambians to do their part in the relief effort. One Zambia, One Nation, One People,”
And FNB Zambia CEO, Bydon Longwe concluded that “It is our hope that this donation will go a long way to ensuring that we can effectively protect ourselves against infection amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Further, we commend the Government’s efforts to keep our communities and the people of Zambia safe and express to them our profound gratitude for allowing us to contribute towards this cause and be part of the solution”.
